International | Assassin’s creed

States are becoming more brazen about killing foes abroad

Some countries are finding new justifications for political murders

Professional hitman stands at the border between two countries, aiming a handgun with a determined expression. — Image: Juan Bernabeu

Sep 26th 2023|Washington, DC

The murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist activist who was shot in Canada in June, has caused an explosive row between Canada and India. It has also brought into sharp relief an incendiary facet of the new world disorder: assassinations. Killings of dissidents and terrorists, and of political or military figures, are as old as politics itself, but their incidence may be rising. Ukraine targets occupiers and collaborators; Russia has tried to kill Ukraine’s president. On September 25th Ukraine claimed to have killed the head of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, only for him seemingly to appear in a video a day later.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Assassin’s creed”